Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority (Construction Authority) announced a milestone in the completion of the 24-acre, $265 million Gold Line Operations Campus. Crews have now completed all design work, nearly 30 percent of construction, and nearly all underground utility installation.

The Operations Campus is being built as part of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension light rail project from Pasadena to Azusa, and broke ground in September 2012. To date, all former buildings and a former frontage road on the southern boundary of the property have been demolished, the grade of the property has been significantly altered, and an extensive system of underground utilities has been installed.

“Hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of soil have been moved around the site over the last eight months,” said Habib F. Balian, CEO of the Construction Authority. “As a result, the grade of the property has changed significantly, shifting by approximately 13 feet from north to south to allow for a more level surface to build the facility.”

The campus is designed to be a state of the art, full-service maintenance and operations facility for servicing Metro’s expanding light rail system. It will house up to 84 light rail vehicles (enough to service the Foothill Extension and other regional lines), and contain areas for vehicle inspection, heavy repair, body repairs, painting, storage, cleaning and more. In addition, nearly 200 Metro employees are expected to work at the facility, involved in both the maintenance and operations of the county’s light rail system.

“We have worked very closely with Metro to make sure the design and completed campus will meet their overall needs for decades to come,” added Balian. “At the same time, we have also added elements â such as extensive landscaping around the perimeter of the property, and a campus viewing area â that have the community in mind.”

The facility is on schedule to be ready to receive light rail vehicles starting in early 2015, in advance of the Foothill Extension from Pasadena to Azusa light rail project’s full completion in September of that year.

The Construction Authority is an independent transportation planning and construction agency created in 1999 by the California State Legislature. Its purpose is to extend the Metro Gold Line light rail line from Union Station to Montclair, along the foothills of the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys. The Construction Authority built the initial segment from Union Station to Pasadena and is underway on the Gold Line Foothill Extension.